Pretty Little Revenge
by mermaidmotel
Summary: Aria and Ezra enjoy the Rosewood Christmas Faire, when she gets a sinister text message.  Set between Twisted and Ruthless. Contains some Ezria fluff.


Aria Montgomery's pink nose peeked out from the top of her mohair neck warmer. A cold snowflake fell and landed on her eyelash. She blinked a few times and it was gone.

Suddenly something cold and wet hit her hard in the back of the head. It was a snowball.

"Gotcha!" cried Emily Fields, running over to her friend, "Did I surprise you?"

Aria nodded, as someone behind Emily caught her eye. "Look!" she cried. Emily turned to see what Aria was looking at.

"What? I don't see anything..." Emily searched the cheery scene for a familiar face. Whatever Aria had been looking at was gone now.

As Emily was turned, Aria reached down and gathered some snow.

"Ahhh!" Emily cried. Aria pulled the back of her shirt open and stuffed a lump of snow down it, "Not fair!"

Aria ran the other way, Emily chased her.

"Whoa there!" Ezra said, as Aria ran straight into him. He held his hot cup of cider to the side, as to not spill any on her.

"Ezra! What are you doing here?" Aria smiled, as she couldn't help but do whenever he was around.

"What, a guy can't come enjoy the Christmas festivities in Rosewood?" Ezra said, in mock defense.

"I'll...um, just go now..." Emily realized her presence was unwanted, and left the couple alone.

Ezra leaned down and kissed Aria. She put her arms around him and felt his warmth. Things had gotten so much better since he'd come back to Rosewood. Everything was legal now, she wasn't a minor, and he wasn't her teacher. She'd told him everything. About Alison, Courtney, A, and even Tabitha. He'd sworn not to tell anyone, and it had really helped her to get it out to someone.

"What do you say we go back to my place?" Ezra whispered sensually in Aria's ear. She felt his hot breath. He smelled like peppermint.

"You know I can't do that...my friends are all here..." She reminded him. Truthfully, she would have loved to go back to his place. The Rosewood Christmas Faire was fun and all, but she'd been to it a million times before and there was nothing new.

"Okay, but next time I ask, I'm not taking no for an answer." He gently kissed her neck, and she giggled.

They trudged through the snow, their hands locked together. With each breath they took, a cloud of steam emerged in front of them.

"So what do you say, carousel or reindeer?" Ezra asked her.

"Hmm, I'm thinking a romantic ride on the carousel is in order." She smiled at him as she said this.

She let go of his hand and ran a little ahead of Ezra. He had to run to catch up.

"Augh!" Aria tripped in the snow and fell. He jumped into the snow with her, tossing aside his cider. He began to kiss her passionately.

"No, stop it!" She cried, laughing. She began to tickle him. He rolled off to the side and she picked herself up.

"Come and get me!" She teased, and ran in the direction of the carousel. Ezra caught up and put his arms around her from behind. They embraced as they stood in line for the carousel.

"Tickets, please?" The man working the booth said to them. Ezra produced two crisp blue pieces of paper from his pocket and gave them to the man.

"Horse or chariot?" Ezra called to Aria.

"Chariot! It's not a romantic carousel ride if we're not sitting together." She nudged him playfully.

Ezra opened the door to a shiny red cart, "Ladies first," He motioned for her to get in.

"Why thank you, kind sir." She smiled as she climbed into the seat. Ezra squeezed in next to her.

"Brr, it's cold!" Aria said, shivering. Ezra put his arm around her other side and pulled her in close. The attendant came by and locked their carriage shut.

Aria sighed, enjoying Ezra's presence. It really had been too long since they'd done something like this.

The carousel began revolving. The scenery was just beautiful, snow falling all around, Christmas lights strung up everywhere...everyone was having such a great time.

Ezra leaned in close, "So, can we go back to my place now? I won't take no for an answer."

"Oh, fine..." Aria said jokingly, as if it was some sort of burden on her. She pulled Ezra's face towards hers and kissed him hard. He wrapped his arms around her small body and brought her in tight. This love was a once-in-a-lifetime love. Aria had never been so happy; so content. All of her troubles seemed to melt away when she was around Ezra.

The couple broke their embrace as the carousel came to a slow stop. Ezra stepped out of the carriage first, then held Aria's hand as she got out.

The two began to walk away from the carousel and to the main festivities.

"Ooh!" Aria cried as her Treo buzzed in her pocket.

"What is it?" Ezra sounded a little worried, he was very protective over her.

"My cellphone buzzed..." She fumbled around, digging into her pocket for the small phone. The bright screen made her eyes water a little, it was dark outside except for the festive lights.

"Who's it from?" Ezra asked.

Aria didn't answer. _"Text from Unknown_" the screen flashed.

"Babe?"

Aria punched the _Open_ button, fearful of what was to come. But no, surely it wasn't...it couldn't be. No, it wasn't possible. Mona was dead. Ali was dead. A was gone.

_I know everything, _

_And I'll make sure you never forget._

_Karma's a bitch, and so am I. _

_And you've got it coming from the both of us._

_-A_

Aria's face froze, expressionless.

"_1 Attachment"_ it said, below the text.

Ezra stood in front of her, wondering what had sent her into this state.

She hit the _OK_ key.

_Attachment Loading._ First it was _25%. _Then _60%._

_Attachment Loading, 99%._

Then a photo flashed onto the screen. Aria's eyes grew wide with terror.

There on the screen was everything she'd worked so hard to forget. There on the screen was a picture of Tabitha Clark. Her blonde hair splayed out around her broken face, her body contorted in ways Aria hadn't thought possible. The sandy beach around her was stained dark with blood. There on the screen was the innocent girl who's life had been ended by Aria. She'd pushed her off that cliff. It was her fault that a family had been torn apart. It was all her fault. She'd _murdered _her.

The phone slipped from Aria's hands into the snow. Ezra bent down to pick it up, but Aria was already gone. She bolted from that spot, from the festival into the woods beyond. Her feet pounded through the snow. She didn't know where she was going. All she knew was that she had to get out of there.

Somebody knew what she'd done. They had proof. And they weren't going to keep it a secret for long.


End file.
